Ad selection in opt-in media experience based on multiple group membership and participation

ABSTRACT

A system to delivery media over a network for rendering by client devices forms a definition of a group of people who have opted-in to experience a defined shared media experience, and augments the shared media as a result of a dynamic measurement of one or more characteristics of the group.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims benefit under 35 u.s.c. 119 to U.S. applicationSer. No. 61/839,368, filed on Jun. 25, 2013, and incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Technologies such as modern cable television infrastructure, broadband,and high speed cellular phone networks have made it easier than ever toconsume media on demand and from wherever the consumer happens to be,through whatever device is most appropriate or convenient. Media is alsobecoming increasingly interactive, driven initially with technologiesused on the web and now making its way into television-experiencedmedia. At the same time the same technologies have been widely embracedas a way for families and friends all over the globe to reconnect andkeep in touch in an increasingly accessible format. Social networkinghas seen the online rise of special interest groups, clubs, and otherforms of association between people that may have not ordinarily beenable to connect. The increased adoption of social networking and socialmedia has also opened up new possibilities on how people can consumemedia. In the past the only shared media experiences were typicallythose provided by linear television, radio and movie theatres wheregroups of people all experienced the same media at the same time. Priortechniques allow individuals to record television or radio media for thepurpose of consuming the media at a later time, using devices likedigital video recorders (DVRs). Each consumer experiences the same mediabut at different times depending on when each of the consumers decidesto experience (e.g., play) the media.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system to delivery media over a network for rendering by clientdevices includes logic to form a definition of a group of people whohave opted-in to experience a defined shared media experience; and logicto augment the shared media as a result of a dynamic measurement of oneor more characteristics of the group.

The system may augment the shared media with supplemental media to beexperienced simultaneously with the shared media. The system may selectone of many alternate narratives for the shared media. The system mayaugment the shared media by expanding it to include additional mediafeeds not limited to the device or platform which instantiated theshared media experience for a particular member of the group. The systemmay commence communication of the shared media to members of the groupupon the passing of a participation threshold (quorum).

The system may augment the shared media according to a growth rate ofmembership in the group. The system may change a quantity, type, orarrangement of advertising based on the growth rate. The system maychange a quantity, type, or arrangement of advertising based on a rateat which members are leaving the group. The system may change aquantity, type, or arrangement of advertising based on a rate at whichfees are collected from members of the group.

The system may change the number of ad insertion points or location ofad insertion points based on the one or more characteristics of thegroup. The system may age out a member of the group and to substituteaggregate data about the member for discrete data upon aging out themember. The system may age out a member of the group and to substitutean abstract identifier representing participation of the member inmultiple shared media experiences. The system may store, for a memberthat has subscribed to multiple groups, an aggregate abstract identifieruniquely representing membership in the multiple groups. The system mayaugment the shared media with ads selected based on attributes of group,different from attributes of a group of actual viewers of the sharedmedia. The system may augment the media with ads selected based onattributes derived by combining attributes of the group and attributesof actual viewers of the shared media.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

To easily identify the discussion of any particular element or act, themost significant digit or digits in a reference number refer to thefigure number in which that element is first introduced.

FIG. 1 illustrates an embodiment of a content delivery system.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of a content delivery process.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment of a content delivery process.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a content delivery process.

FIG. 5 is a system diagram of an embodiment of a content distributionsystem.

FIG. 6 is an action flow diagram of an embodiment of a contentdistribution process.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a content distributionprocess.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Glossary

“ad campaign manager” in this context refers to a logic component inSCTE 130 compliant advanced digital advertising systems, that providesthe information necessary for the ADS to render ad decisions. An ADS mayprovide the same decision services or different services to multiple ADMsimultaneously. the Placement Execution cloud and/or the ADM block mayconsult the POIS for placement opportunity information with the POISfronting the Inventory System cloud.

“ad content” in this context refers to content promoting or raisingawareness of a product or service, displayed in conjunction with programcontent, but which typically is independent of the program content (canbe displayed in conjunction with different program content at differenttimes).

“ad placement” in this context refers to a decision resulting from an adplacement opportunity which may include a content binding and a set ofconstraints. Ad content inserted into or along-side program content.

“client device” in this context refers to any machine that interfaces toa machine network to obtain resources from one or more server systems.

“program content” in this context refers to content to which advertisingis applied. Digital bit streams (e.g., MPEG) encoding televisionprograms or movies are examples of program content.

“stream” in this context refers to content communicated over a networkas a sequence of continuous parts (e.g., packets, bits, bytes) andrendered as the content is received at the recipient device.

DESCRIPTION

References to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” do not necessarilyrefer to the same embodiment, although they may.

Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, throughout thedescription and the claims, the words “comprise,” “comprising,” and thelike are to be construed in an inclusive sense as opposed to anexclusive or exhaustive sense; that is to say, in the sense of“including, but not limited to.” Words using the singular or pluralnumber also include the plural or singular number respectively.

Additionally, the words “herein,” “above,” “below” and words of similarimport, when used in this application, refer to this application as awhole and not to any particular portions of this application. Referencesto “or” among elements indicates one or more of the elements, unless thecontext indicates otherwise.

“Logic” refers to machine memory circuits, machine readable media,and/or circuitry which by way of its material and/or material-energyconfiguration comprises control and/or procedural signals, and/orsettings and values, that may be applied to influence the operation of adevice. Magnetic media, electronic circuits, electrical and opticalmemory (both volatile and nonvolatile), and firmware are examples oflogic.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that logic may be distributedthroughout one or more devices, and/or may be comprised of combinationsmemory, media, processing circuits and controllers, other circuits, andso on. Therefore, in the interest of clarity and correctness logic maynot always be distinctly illustrated in drawings of devices and systems,although it is inherently present therein.

The techniques and procedures described herein may be implemented vialogic distributed in one or more computing devices. The particulardistribution and choice of logic may vary according to implementation.

The following description uses text messages by way of example. Thoseskilled in the art will recognize that the described techniques may beapplied to email systems and email-text communication without undueexperimentation.

A DVS 130 compliant system may include various logic components. Onesuch component is the ADS ad decision (i.e., ad selection) component.ADS components define rules and implement functions to select ads to becombined with program content and to define how the ads and programcontent are combined. Decisions may be specific (e.g., specific to adate and time) or they may be made based on a set of conditions andparameters (e.g., geographic zones and subscriber profile information).Another type of logic component is an ADM ad management component. ADMcomponents define rules and implement functions to coordinate theinsertion of advertising media into other content (e.g., programs).According to DVS 130, ADS components register to cooperate with one ormore ADM components. The ADS components select ads and specify how tocombine them with other content, and the ADM components control theactual combining of the ads with the other content. Another type oflogic component is a CIS content information component. CIS componentsdefine rules and implement functions to identify and manage descriptivedata (metadata) for content (e.g., programs) and advertising. The CIScomponents provide search, discovery, and availability alerts forcontent and the ads to combine with the content. Another type of logiccomponent is the POIS placement opportunity information component. POIScomponents define rules and implement functions to identify and describead placement opportunities. The POIS defines which platforms areavailable for particular ad media, ownership rights associated with adplacement opportunities, and ad placement policies. Ad placementopportunities are specific to specific content and may also be specificto the communication network for the content, the geographic location(s)where the content is distributed, and many other factors. Another typeof component is the SIS subscriber information component. SIS componentsdefine rules and implement functions to store, process, and accesssubscriber information to apply to the ad selection process. The SIS maybe employed for selection and placement of ads based on subscriber mediaconsumption behavior. The SIS stores and controls access to personalinformation of media consumers (e.g., cable television subscribers).Thus conventional SIS components control and limit access to theinformation they store in order to provide for the privacy of mediaconsumer's personal data.

One or more ADS component may register with one or more CIS component tosearch for content and receive alerts when specific types of content areavailable for placing ads. One or more POIS components may be engaged byother components to identify when advertising content is available. Oneor more SIS components may be engaged by other components to obtaininformation related to subscriber activities (preferences or viewinghabits).

In some systems a hub component coordinates communication between all ofthe system components. The hub may be stateless relative to the othercomponents, or it may maintain an internal state independent of thestate of the other components.

A new system is described to create or modify ad maps reacts tosubscriber group micropayments. The system may operate in compliancewith DVS 130 specifications. A group of people who have opted into(subscribed to) a future or ongoing media even can cause modification ofthe ad maps the system applies, based on factors described herein. Groupbehavior can cause the ad map for the content to be modified with feweror shorter ads; or ads of a certain type or category. Generally, thegroup behavior can influence the number or flavor of the ads they areexposed to. The group can influence selection of the supplemental media,length or number of selections of supplemental media, or arrangement orsequence of the supplemental media the group is exposed to duringpresentation of the subscribed-to media event.

In the following drawings, various logic components may be implementedas part of a hub, a POIS, an ADM, and ADS, and cooperative combinationsof these components. For example, an ‘opt-in’ component mappingsubscribers to particular content and tracking trends in the group maybe implemented by or interoperate with a hub. Likewise, a hub mayinteract with or implement a POIS logic component in order to carry outmodifications to ad maps.

The system provides a means in which a media experience shared amongst agroup of people, who have opted-in to be defined as part of a the group,can be augmented or modified. The augmentation or modification to theshared media experience can be as a result of a dynamic measurement ofone or more characteristics of the group potentially combined with thecontext of the media and viewing experience. The new shared mediaexperience can involve the addition of supplemental media to beexperienced simultaneously with the original shared media experience, orprovide the selection of one of many alternate narratives for the sharedmedia experience, including changing original shared media experienceitself or inserting additional media such as advertising or information.The augmentation or modification of the shared media experience can beexpanded to include additional media feeds not limited to the device orplatform which instantiated the original shared media experience for agiven user.

For the purpose of providing examples within detailed description“media” may refer to audio/video content, static graphic and interactivecontent, but the invention should not be considered limited to theseforms of media.

The term “consumer” may refer to a person, machine or process which iscapable of receiving media. For the purpose of providing examples withinthe detailed description consumer may refer to a person watching,listening or interacting with media, but the invention should not beconsidered limited to people.

The term “shared media experience” may refer to any consumption of mediaamongst a group of participants. For the purpose of the presentinvention, media consumers must have identified themselves as being amember of the group.

The term “consumer generated event” may refer to an event created by aconsumer during a shared media event. This could be for example theconsumer interacting with the media, pausing the shared mediaexperience, making a selection to a prompt or question or other similarevents that those skilled in the art to practice the invention would beable to utilize in other embodiments.

The term “media generated event” may refer to an event created by themedia being consumed during a shared media event. This could be in-bandmedia signaling, out of band associated media metadata or some otherform.

The term “participation threshold” may refer to a predefined number ofconsumers that are participating with a particular instance of sharedmedia experience.

The term “event threshold” may refer to a predefined number of consumergenerated events.

The term “shared media group” may refer to a group of consumers thathave purposely opted in be part of a collective (group) for the purposeof having shared media experiences.

Disclosed herein is a method and system for dynamically introducing newshared media to a group of media consumers participating in a sharedmedia experience. The system defines how a shared media experience canbe changed based on characteristics and events related to the groupgenerated prior and during the group media experience, and by groupdynamics prior to or during the presentation of the shared media event.

The commencement of the shared media experience may be based on but notlimited to such factors as an agreed upon start date and time, thepassing of a participation threshold (quorum), or an event ornotification generated by the entity that is responsible for deliveringthe shared media experience. Only consumers that are part of the sharedmedia group will be able to participate in a specific instance of ashared media experience.

The growth rate of the group, e.g. how fast people are joining, is afactor that may affect how the (original or supplemental) media ispresented. A quantity, type, and/or arrangement of advertising or othersupplemental media may be dependent on dynamics of the groupevolution/growth as well as characteristics of the group or its members,not limited to but including:

-   -   The number of members actively participating in a shared media        experience or who have registered to become part of the shared        media experience    -   The number of members in the group    -   The rate at which members are joining or leaving the group    -   The rate at which members are joining or leaving the shared        media experience    -   How many fees have been collected or pledged if there's a fee        associated with joining the group or shared media experience    -   The rate at which feeds may be collected or pledge    -   The aggregate or average demographic, psychographic, geographic        or behavioral characteristics of the group, those actively        participating in a shared media experience, or have submitted        fees or pledges

Such characteristics could affect the type of ads, the length of ads,the placement of ads, or the number of ad insertion points (breaks)within the shared media experience. For example more fees paid towards ashared media experience may cut the number of breaks down or eliminatethem completely if past a certain threshold. The number of ad insertionspoints may remain the same and the number of ads within each break mayvary depending on these characteristics, or a combination of both adinsertion points and amount of ads could vary. This process need not belimited to reducing ad payloads, and additional ads could be added basedon these characteristics also.

The membership to a group participating in a shared media experience maybe reduced or members aged out due to many reasons including but notlimited to a certain period of active or inactive membership, the numberof shared media experiences participated, the rate of shared mediaparticipation, the activity of the group as a whole.

At such time, data about a particular member, their characteristics,their memberships to groups and activity in shared media experiences maybe reduced or eliminated. Aggregate data may be collected andsubstituted instead where discrete data points may have existed. Forexample the data that pertains to them having participated in sharedmedia experience x, y and z may be purged and replaced with a countsaying they participated in 3 shared media experiences, or some abstractidentifier used to represent what it means to have participated in thosethree shared media experiences and that abstract identifier would beassociated with the member. The abstract identifier may also be aged outdue to some condition.

If a member has subscribed to multiple groups, rather than store theindividual group memberships the member may be noted as being part ofthose groups through some aggregate abstract identifier. For example, ifsomeone had subscribed to judo and karate groups theses values may beabstracted to martial arts. Or the two groups could have been abstractedto some value which has no meaning outside of the context of the groupdefiner, for example the value of A1234 could also represent that theyare part of judo and karate groups without identifying this groupmembership to parties other than the group definer.

The shared media experience can be affected by the dynamics of the groupmembership and those participating or registered to participate with theshared media experience. For example, if enough members watching theshared media experience are associated with a particular sporting team,and the shared media experience was a fictional story about the samesport then the narrative may change to include references to thesporting team. Or if the amount of fees collected has met some conditionthen the shared media experience may be allowed to continue, or if thefees haven't been collected then the shared media experience may behalted until such time that the fees have been collected or some othercondition has been met. For example participants of a shared mediaexperience may be allowed to see not just the current episode of aprogram but may also get to see the following episode immediatelyafterwards if fees had been met.

Ad selection for a media experience is influenced by attributes of anopt-in group, which may not be and is typically different fromattributes of a group of actual viewers. In one implementation, ads (orother media to supplement the primary media that is opted-into) areselected based on attributes derived by combining attributes of anopt-in group and attributes of actual viewers.

Multiple opt-in groups can be applied against the same upcoming mediaevent; the viewer's experience of advertising, alternate endings, orother supplemental content is different depending on which group (orgroups) they are opted into, and optionally also who is actually viewingthe media along with them at that time (the “actual viewership”).“Actual viewership” may be a function of the actual participants in themedia experience, a participation rate of those who opted-in, orstatistics that compare opt-in rates against actual participation ratesfor the group as a whole or subgroups of the group. In one model whereprivacy is an important consideration, group attributes are ascertained,then the ads are selected based on group attributes and optionally thenumber of people from the group watching, or statistical qualities ofthe viewing group; actual details about who particularly is watching, orwho particularly opted-into the experience, are obfuscated. In oneimplementation, NVPs in the CIS/SIS form groups; subscriber can beassociated with multiple groups in the SIS; the CIS defines the mediaevent and an association of one or more opt-in groups to the mediaevent.

The group association information, and actual participation information,may be relevant to future ad selection for future media events; if aperson opts in to groups often, but doesn't participate often, that maydetermine ad selection for media they opt into in the future (theirrelevance for ad selection may be reduced or increased based onparticipation).

The techniques and procedures described herein may be implemented vialogic distributed in one or more computing devices. The particulardistribution and choice of logic may vary according to implementation.

Those having skill in the art will appreciate that there are variouslogic implementations by which processes and/or systems described hereincan be effected (e.g., hardware, software, and/or firmware), and thatthe preferred vehicle will vary with the context in which the processesare deployed. “Software” refers to logic that may be readily readaptedto different purposes (e.g. read/write volatile or nonvolatile memory ormedia). “Firmware” refers to logic embodied as read-only memories and/ormedia. Hardware refers to logic embodied as analog and/or digitalcircuits. If an implementer determines that speed and accuracy areparamount, the implementer may opt for a hardware and/or firmwarevehicle; alternatively, if flexibility is paramount, the implementer mayopt for a solely software implementation; or, yet again alternatively,the implementer may opt for some combination of hardware, software,and/or firmware. Hence, there are several possible vehicles by which theprocesses described herein may be effected, none of which is inherentlysuperior to the other in that any vehicle to be utilized is a choicedependent upon the context in which the vehicle will be deployed and thespecific concerns (e.g., speed, flexibility, or predictability) of theimplementer, any of which may vary. Those skilled in the art willrecognize that optical aspects of implementations may involveoptically-oriented hardware, software, and or firmware.

The foregoing detailed description has set forth various embodiments ofthe devices and/or processes via the use of block diagrams, flowcharts,and/or examples. Insofar as such block diagrams, flowcharts, and/orexamples contain one or more functions and/or operations, it will beunderstood as notorious by those within the art that each functionand/or operation within such block diagrams, flowcharts, or examples canbe implemented, individually and/or collectively, by a wide range ofhardware, software, firmware, or virtually any combination thereof.Several portions of the subject matter described herein may beimplemented via Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), FieldProgrammable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), digital signal processors (DSPs), orother integrated formats. However, those skilled in the art willrecognize that some aspects of the embodiments disclosed herein, inwhole or in part, can be equivalently implemented in standard integratedcircuits, as one or more computer programs running on one or morecomputers (e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more computersystems), as one or more programs running on one or more processors(e.g., as one or more programs running on one or more microprocessors),as firmware, or as virtually any combination thereof, and that designingthe circuitry and/or writing the code for the software and/or firmwarewould be well within the skill of one of skill in the art in light ofthis disclosure. In addition, those skilled in the art will appreciatethat the mechanisms of the subject matter described herein are capableof being distributed as a program product in a variety of forms, andthat an illustrative embodiment of the subject matter described hereinapplies equally regardless of the particular type of signal bearingmedia used to actually carry out the distribution. Examples of a signalbearing media include, but are not limited to, the following: recordabletype media such as floppy disks, hard disk drives, CD ROMs, digitaltape, and computer memory.

In a general sense, those skilled in the art will recognize that thevarious aspects described herein which can be implemented, individuallyand/or collectively, by a wide range of hardware, software, firmware, orany combination thereof can be viewed as being composed of various typesof “circuitry.” Consequently, as used herein “circuitry” includes, butis not limited to, electrical circuitry having at least one discreteelectrical circuit, electrical circuitry having at least one integratedcircuit, electrical circuitry having at least one application specificintegrated circuit, circuitry forming a general purpose computing deviceconfigured by a computer program (e.g., a general purpose computerconfigured by a computer program which at least partially carries outprocesses and/or devices described herein, or a microprocessorconfigured by a computer program which at least partially carries outprocesses and/or devices described herein), circuitry forming a memorydevice (e.g., forms of random access memory), and/or circuitry forming acommunications device (e.g., a modem, communications switch, oroptical-electrical equipment).

Those skilled in the art will recognize that it is common within the artto describe devices and/or processes in the fashion set forth herein,and thereafter use standard engineering practices to integrate suchdescribed devices and/or processes into larger systems. That is, atleast a portion of the devices and/or processes described herein can beintegrated into a network processing system via a reasonable amount ofexperimentation.

The foregoing described aspects depict different components containedwithin, or connected with, different other components. It is to beunderstood that such depicted architectures are merely exemplary, andthat in fact many other architectures can be implemented which achievethe same functionality. In a conceptual sense, any arrangement ofcomponents to achieve the same functionality is effectively “associated”such that the desired functionality is achieved. Hence, any twocomponents herein combined to achieve a particular functionality can beseen as “associated with” each other such that the desired functionalityis achieved, irrespective of architectures or intermedial components.Likewise, any two components so associated can also be viewed as being“operably connected”, or “operably coupled”, to each other to achievethe desired functionality.

DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a system diagram of an embodiment of a content deliverysystem. FIG. 2 is an action flow diagram of an embodiment of a contentdelivery process. FIG. 3-4 is a flow chart of an embodiment of a contentdelivery process. Collectively these drawings illustrate a system andprocess to modify ad maps based on multiple financial transactions(e.g., microtransactions) from multiple different viewers (e.g., usingmobile phone payment apps).

The system comprises financial system 108, content rendering device 110,content distribution system 114, ad system 116, and content renderingdevice 118. The financial system 108 receives a payment signal from thecontent rendering devices 110,118 and in response accumulates paymentsfor particular content (302, 312). The content distribution system 114receives a payment signal from the financial system 108 and in responseapplies the accumulated payments to logic to modify an ad map for thecontent (304). The ad system 116 receives a modification signal from thecontent distribution system 114 and in response provides an ad based ona modified ad map (or removes from the ad map an ad that would have beenprovided) (310). The content distribution system 114 receives an adsignal from the ad system 116 and in response inserts the ad to beviewed along with the content (308). The content rendering devices 110receive content from the content distribution system 114 and in responserender the content (306, 314).

Thus multiple viewers interact with the content distribution system 114to opt-in to an ongoing or future media experience (i.e., acommunication of media information over a distribution network to adisplay/rendering device). The content distribution system 114 willgenerate ad maps for the media experience based on characteristics ofthe opt-in group, possibly enhanced or changed based on actualparticipation by members of the group. creating and executing a sharedmedia experience. A media experience is defined and published to aninterface accessible to network-connected devices. Devices (e.g.,portable computers, smart phones, set top boxes, or smart televisions)access the network-connected interface and obtain information about themedia experience, which is processed by the devices into displayattributes on the device for a user of the device to observe. Some ofthe device users operate the device controls to cause signaling to logicthat manages the media experience, the signaling indicating that theusers want to join the media experience. A certain number of users mayjoin over a period of time, which may span several days or longer.Shared media is determined to present concurrently with the mediaexperience, where the determination evolves along with characteristicsof those who have joined the media event, as well as potentially otherfactors such as described herein. Eventually, a sufficient number ofusers have joined, or a certain date/time or event transpires, and themedia experience is initiated. The media experience is presented to oneor more users who have joined (they may experience the mediasimultaneously, as in a broadcast, or at different times, as invideo-on-demand). The shared media that is presented along with themedia experience may vary during the media experience, based on who isactually experiencing the media, and other factors as described herein.

The membership subsystem of devices may comprise a CIS (ContentInformation Service, see SCTE 130) and a SIS (Subscriber InformationService). The SIS may store, for each person who opts into the sharedfuture experience (or potential experience, if there is a participationthreshold before which the media will not be streamed), identifiers ofthe shared content as defined in the CIS. In this manner participationlevels and subgroup demographics for the future media experience may betracked/tabulated.

The content distribution system 114 will generate ad maps for the mediaexperience based on characteristics of the opt-in group, possiblyenhanced or changed based on actual participation by members of thegroup. The growth rate of the group, e.g. how fast people are joining,is a factor that may affect ad maps defining how supplemental media ispresented. Advertising content could be inserted as part of the overallshared media experience. The quantity and type of advertising may bedependent on characteristics of the group or its members, not limited tobut including:

-   -   The number of members actively participating in a shared media        experience or who have registered to become part of the shared        media experience    -   The number of members in the group    -   The rate at which members are joining or leaving the group    -   The rate at which members are joining or leaving the shared        media experience    -   How many fees have been collected or pledged if there's a fee        associated with joining the group or shared media experience    -   The rate at which feeds may be collected or pledge    -   The aggregate or average demographic, psychographic, geographic        or behavioral characteristics of the group, those actively        participating in a shared media experience, or have submitted        fees or pledges

A particular viewer may act to debit a micro-transaction (i.e., atransaction of less than $5) to the account to influence the ad mapgeneration system for the media they have opted into. A sufficientaccumulation of micro-transactions to the benefit of a partyowning/distribution or otherwise having financial or advertising rightsin the media, may influence the ad map generation to insert certaintypes of ads (e.g., for certain products or services), to shorten theads or lower their frequency of insertion, or to move the ads frommidroll to endroll.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of an embodiment of a content distribution system.FIG. 6 is an action flow diagram of an embodiment of a contentdistribution process. FIG. 7 is a flow chart of an embodiment of acontent distribution process. The system comprises CIS 502, SIS 504,Opt-In System 506, Vstor 508, Vpum 510, Vsel 512, and Vspl 514.Collectively these drawings illustrate a system and process for videodelivery and advertising (although the invention is not necessarilylimited to video content delivery).

The Opt-In System 506 (e.g., a web site) receives a group signal fromthe SIS 504 and in response receives ‘dynamics’ (e.g., changes in groupmembership or characteristics) for viewers in the group, where the groupis associated with one or more content items for later or presentviewing (704). The CIS 502 receives a dynamics signal from the Opt-InSystem 506 and in response associates the dynamics with the groupcontent (702). The Vpum 510 (video pump) receives a video signal fromthe Vstor 508 (video storage system) and in response forms a stream fordelivering the content over a machine network (708). The Vspl 514 (videosplicer) receives a stream signal from the Vpum 510 and in response ifthere's an upcoming ad break indicated in a received ad map, splices adcontent into the ad break (712). The Vsel 512 (video selector) receivesdynamics from the CIS 502 and in response modifies an ad map to accountfor the dynamics (706). The Vspl 514 receives an ad signal from the Vsel512 and in response splices the ad into the content (710).

What is claimed is:
 1. A system to deliver media over a network forrendering by client devices, the system comprising: at least one memorythat stores computer-executable instructions; and at least one hardwareprocessor that, when executing the computer-executable instructionsstored in the at least one memory, is configured to: operate a hubbetween a Subscriber Information Service and a Content InformationService to identify a plurality of distinct upcoming shared mediaexperiences that a particular viewer is opted into based on subscribergroups formed in a Subscriber Information Service and media events andan association of one or more opt-in groups to the media events definedin a Content Information Service; select supplemental media to alter aparticular one of the distinct shared media experiences, the selectingbased on the plurality of distinct upcoming shared media experiencesthat the viewer is opted into; and during digital delivery of theparticular one of the distinct shared media experiences to the viewer,alter the particular one of the distinct shared media experiences withthe supplemental media and with additional supplemental media selectedbased on additional actual viewers of the particular one of the distinctshared media experiences, and direct the supplemental media oradditional supplemental media to a device other than a device thatinitiated the shared media experience.
 2. The system of claim 1, whereinthe at least one hardware processor, when executing thecomputer-executable instructions stored in the at least one memory, isfurther configured to: select the supplemental media from a plurality ofalternate narratives for the particular one of the distinct shared mediaexperiences.
 3. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one hardwareprocessor, when executing the computer-executable instructions stored inthe at least one memory, is further configured to: select, as thesupplemental media, additional media feeds to a second device than afirst device delivering the particular one of the distinct shared mediaexperiences to the viewer.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the atleast one hardware processor, when executing the computer-executableinstructions stored in the at least one memory, is further configuredto: commence communication of the particular one of the distinct sharedmedia experiences to the viewer only upon the triggering of a definedmembership threshold (quorum).
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the atleast one hardware processor, when executing the computer-executableinstructions stored in the at least one memory, is further configuredto: select the supplemental media according to a growth rate ofmembership in a group of people opting into the particular one of thedistinct shared media experiences.
 6. The system of claim 5, wherein theat least one hardware processor, when executing the computer-executableinstructions stored in the at least one memory, is further configuredto: select the supplemental media to change the quantity, type, orarrangement of advertising presented with the particular one of thedistinct shared media experiences based on the growth rate.
 7. Thesystem of claim 6, wherein the at least one hardware processor, whenexecuting the computer-executable instructions stored in the at leastone memory, is further configured to: change the quantity, type, orarrangement of the advertising augmenting the defined shared mediaexperience based on a rate at which fees are collected for theparticular one of the distinct shared media experiences.
 8. The systemof claim 1, wherein the at least one hardware processor, when executingthe computer-executable instructions stored in the at least one memory,is further configured to: age out the viewer and substitute, fordiscrete identifiers of each participation of the viewer in theplurality of the distinct shared media experiences, a single aggregateabstract identifier characterizing participation in all of the pluralityof the distinct shared media experiences and not particularlyidentifying any one of the plurality of distinct shared mediaexperiences.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one hardwareprocessor, when executing the computer-executable instructions stored inthe at least one memory, is further configured to: age out viewers whoparticipate in the particular one of the distinct shared mediaexperiences, and substitute, for distinct identifications of the viewersas participants in the particular one of the distinct shared mediaexperiences, aggregate data characterizing the participation of theviewers that were aged out, the aggregate data not distinctlyidentifying any one of the viewers.
 10. The system of claim 1, whereinthe at least one hardware processor, when executing thecomputer-executable instructions stored in the at least one memory, isfurther configured to: operate the hub statelessly relative to theSubscriber Information Service and the Content Information Service. 11.The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one hardware processor, whenexecuting the computer-executable instructions stored in the at leastone memory, is further configured to: obfuscate identifying detailsabout the viewer received from the Subscriber Information Service.